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MPR News/Humphrey Institute Poll: The Vikings stadium and Legislature

Minnesota Public Radio
May 21, 2010

Below are results of a poll conducted by Minnesota Public Radio News and the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota on voters' attitudes toward the Minnesota Legislature, its performance in the 2010 session, and the Vikings stadium proposal.

The Minnesota Legislature

The respondents gave poor scores to the Minnesota Legislature, which is controlled by large Democratic majorities in both houses. Only 37 percent approved of the way the Legislature handled its job at the end of session. This is a decline from 46 percent in the January 2008 MPR News/Humphrey Institute survey, which occurred at the beginning of that session.

Today, the battle for control of the Minnesota Legislature is a tossup. Forty-one percent of respondents said they favor Democratic Party candidates, and 38 percent indicate they support Republicans.

Question: If the November election for the Minnesota State Legislature was being held today, who would you vote for: The Democrat Party candidate, the Republican Party candidate, or somebody else.

The Vikings stadium proposal

A large majority oppose using taxpayer money to build a new Vikings stadium, even if it means the team might leave the state. Only 30 percent support using tax dollars. Not only is there lopsided opposition to the Vikings stadium, but the opponents are three times more intense in their feelings than the backers of the stadium.

Women are substantially more opposed than men to using tax dollars to build a new Vikings stadium.

About the survey

This survey is a collaboration between Minnesota Public Radio News and the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. The survey was analyzed by the center. The research team was Lawrence R. Jacobs, center director, and Joanne M. Miller, associate professor, Department of Political Science. Geoff Sheagley provided research assistance.

The survey of 701 Minnesota adults was conducted May 13-May 16, 2010, following the three major parties' endorsing conventions. The margin of error is +/-5.8 percentage points. For smaller subgroups, the margin of sampling error is larger.

The distribution of party identification among adults in the full sample is as follows: